React State Management — Zustand vs Jotai

I'm choosing between Zustand and Jotai for a medium-complexity React app. What are the practical differences?

The key distinction is the mental model: **Zustand** — Store-based (like a mini Redux): - You define stores with actions - Components subscribe to slices — only re-renders when that slice changes - Great for: global app state, auth state, feature flags - 1.1kb gzipped. Zero boilerplate. **Jotai** — Atom-based (like Recoil, but simpler): - You define atoms, then derive from them - Great for: form state, component-local shared state, derived/computed values - 2.4kb gzipped. React-first. Plays well with Suspense. **My recommendation:** If state is mostly UI state → Jotai. If it has side effects, async actions → Zustand. You can use both in the same app.

We have a lot of server-synced state. Does that change the recommendation?

If most of your state is server-synced, **neither is your primary tool**. Use TanStack Query (React Query) for server state, and Zustand/Jotai only for the remaining client-only state. The common anti-pattern is putting server state in Zustand/Redux and manually syncing it. Let TanStack Query own the server cache, and your client state library owns only what the server doesn't know about.

Makes sense. We're already using React Query. So just Zustand for the small amount of client-only global state?

Exactly. With React Query already handling server state, Zustand for the rest is the sweet spot. The `persist` middleware gives you localStorage persistence for free. Total setup: ~20 lines. No reducers, no action creators, no dispatchers.